How to set up your ECWID online store
Your Local Food Shop Goes Digital: The Ecwid Way!
Want to know what powers over 903,000 thriving online shops worldwide? Say hello to Ecwid! 🛍️
Whether you’re a skilled butcher with premium cuts, a greengrocer bursting with seasonal produce, or a passionate cheesemonger crafting artisanal delights, your path to online success starts here. Best part? You can showcase up to 5 products completely free with Ecwid’s basic plan.
Watch your online shop flourish with features that speak your customers’ language – literally! From chatting in 36 different languages to connecting with 73 payment options, your shop works seamlessly with WordPress, Wix, and Squarespace. Plus, clever bits like automatic tax sums and the brilliant Instant Site builder mean you’ll be up and running faster than you can say "fresh from the farm"!
Ready to bring your food treasures to eager online shoppers? Let’s get your Ecwid shop sorted, shall we? No tech gibberish – just plain English and practical steps to get you selling. 🚀
Why Ecwid? Your Perfect Recipe for Online Success! 🛍️
Think of Ecwid as your digital market stall – a place where local food heroes like you can showcase their delicious offerings to the world!
Your Recipe for Online Success: How Ecwid Works 🏪
Want the secret ingredient to selling everywhere without the hassle?
Picture this menu of possibilities:
🥩 Butchers – Show off those perfectly aged cuts with mouthwatering photos and tell the story behind every premium selection
🥬 Greengrocers – Keep your seasonal bounty fresh and current, proudly displaying those organic certifications
🧀 Cheesemongers – Craft the perfect portions with flexible weight options and detailed ageing descriptions
🎂 Cake Decorators – Take custom orders with special instructions to create those perfect celebration centrepieces
🐟 Fishmongers – Keep catches fresh with clever delivery zones and timing
Better still, Ecwid keeps all your stock numbers perfectly balanced across every platform. Sell a wheel of artisanal cheddar on Facebook?
Fancy giving your customers collection and delivery choices?
- Click and collect with handy time slots
- Local delivery within your chosen zones
- Nationwide shipping with live rates
Pick Your Perfect Plan: From Taste-Tester to Master Chef! 💳
Looking for a risk-free way to start your online food journey?
🌱 Free Plan – Your Starter Menu
- A fresh selection of 5 products
- Pop your shop on any website
- 30 days of helpful support
All the storage space you need
Perfect for testing the waters with those special preserves or that award-winning honey!
🌿 Venture Plan – A Bigger Bite (£19.85/month)
- Room for 100 delicious offerings
- Share your recipe books and cooking guides
- Serve up your treats on Facebook and Instagram
- Let the numbers crunch themselves
Keep track of every morsel
🌺 Business Plan – The Full Spread (£35.74/month)
- Space for 2,500 tasty treasures
- Offer different cuts, sizes and weights
- Help customers find their perfect pick
Spread your flavours across Amazon and eBay
🌳 Unlimited Plan – The Whole Kitchen (£83.39/month)
Here’s the cherry on top – no sneaky transaction fees on any plan!
While the free plan gives you a proper taste, most food artisans find the Venture or Business plans offer the perfect recipe for online success. After all, great food deserves a great showcase!
Ready to Serve Up Your Online Shop? Let’s Get Started! 🏪
Why spend hours wrestling with complicated tech when you can have your food shop up and running in minutes? At Bee Local, we love keeping things simple – that’s why we’re excited to show you just how easy setting up your Ecwid shop can be. No coding knowledge needed, no technical headaches – just straightforward steps to get your delicious offerings online!
Setting Up Your Digital Shop – Fresh and Simple! 🏪
Getting Your Shop Ready to Serve
Ready to dish up something special online? Creating your Ecwid account is as easy as pie:
- Pop over to the Ecwid login page
- Share your name and email
- Cook up a secure password
- Click "Next: Set up your store"
Want an even quicker bite? Sign in with Apple, Facebook, or Google! After you’re in, Ecwid serves up a quick questionnaire to season your shop just right. These first ingredients matter – fishmongers can map out fresh delivery zones, whilst butchers might need different options for their premium cuts. Cake decorators? They’ll love the custom order fields for those special celebration creations!
Once you’ve finished, your Instant Site appears like magic – a free space to start selling straight away. From there, choose whether to keep it, blend it with your existing website, or spread your flavours across social media.
Picking Your Perfect Recipe
Just like choosing the right ingredients makes a dish sing, selecting the right plan helps your shop flourish:
🌱 Starter Plan (Free)
- Perfect for greengrocers testing the waters with 5 fresh picks
- Essential features to get you started
- 30 days of friendly support
- Two categories to organise your goods
🌿 Venture Plan (£19.85/month)
- Ideal for cheesemongers with up to 100 delicious offerings
- Share your foodie knowledge with digital recipe books
- Catch those wandering customers
- Serve up your treats on Facebook and Instagram
🌺 Business Plan (£35.74/month)
- Perfect for butchers with up to 2,500 products
- Add product variations for different cuts and weights
- Help customers find their perfect pick
- Customise orders just the way you like
🌳 Unlimited Plan (£83.39/month)
- The whole kitchen sink for established food markets
- Unlimited products and staff accounts
- Seamless shop-to-till integration
- VIP support when you need it
Fancy a bargain? Save 16% with annual plans and get free customisation hours on Business and Unlimited plans!
Your Kitchen Control Centre
Think of your Ecwid dashboard as your digital kitchen – everything’s right where you need it:
📊 My Sales – Watch your orders roll in
📝 Catalogue – Manage your delicious inventory
💫 Marketing – Spread the word about your treats
🌐 Website – Make your shop shine
📈 Reports – See what’s cooking
⚙️ Settings – Fine-tune your flavours
Perfect for food artisans like you – greengrocers can update their seasonal bounty, fishmongers set delivery zones, and cake decorators craft custom order forms.
Want to get everything just right before opening? Your shop stays under wraps until you’re ready to welcome customers. Just flip the "Storefront is open/closed" switch when your digital shelves are perfectly stocked.
Need a helping hand? Ecwid’s friendly guides and videos are always there to help – making your journey from market stall to online success smoother than perfectly whipped cream!
Showcasing Your Culinary Treasures! 🏪
Want your delicious offerings to shine online? Let’s get your digital shelves perfectly stocked and organised!
Creating Your Food Categories 📋
Think of your online categories as aisles in a perfectly arranged shop. Pop into Catalog → Categories, click "Add Root Category," and watch your digital marketplace take shape.
For specialty food retailers, smart organisation makes shopping a breeze:
🥩 Butchers
- Premium Beef
- Fresh Poultry
- Specialty Cuts
🧀 Cheesemongers
- Creamy Soft Cheese
- Aged Hard Cheese
- Local Specialities
🥖 Bakeries
- Celebration Cakes
- Fresh-Baked Bread
- Daily Pastries
Want to get fancy? Create nested categories – perfect for fishmongers showcasing "Fresh Catch," "Shellfish," and "Smoked Delicacies" under their seafood selection!
Pictures That Make Mouths Water 📸
Since customers can’t smell or taste through their screens (yet!), gorgeous photos become your secret ingredient. Show off your products from every angle – think glistening fresh cuts or perfectly ripened cheese.
Skip those stock photos – real pictures of your actual products build trust and keep customers coming back for more. Managing loads of seasonal produce? Bulk upload tools let you refresh hundreds of photos faster than you can say "fresh from the farm"!
Keep Track of Your Treasures 📊
Nobody likes disappointing customers with "sold out" notices. Keep your stock fresh and available:
- Visit your product page
- Spot the "Stock Control" section
- Click "Manage stock control"
- Pop in your current quantities
Fancy offering bulk discounts? Perfect for those Sunday roasts or party platters! Just click "Manage pricing options" and watch your special offers come to life.
Different Sizes, Same Great Taste 🎯
Whether you’re selling cheese by the wedge or steaks by the weight, product variations keep everything crystal clear:
- Find your product in Catalog
- Click through to Options
- Add your variations
- Choose how to display them
- Set your prices and weights
Perfect for fishmongers tracking different fillet sizes or bakers offering celebration cakes in various servings. Plus, you can even take pre-orders when something special is temporarily out of stock!
With these clever tools at your fingertips, your online shop becomes as welcoming as your physical store – a place where quality food finds happy homes! 🏪💫
Make Your Shop Window Shine! 🎨
Want to create a shop that makes customers’ mouths water? Let’s dress your digital windows to showcase those delicious treasures!
Your Shop, Your Style 🎯
Ready to give your shop that special flavour? Pop into the Design page and watch the magic happen – no coding required! Think of it as arranging your perfect market stall:
- Choose how big your product cards should be (like arranging those perfect cheese wedges!)
- Place your ‘Buy Now’ buttons where they catch the eye
- Organise your categories (just like your physical shop!)
- Add helpful navigation signs to guide your customers
Here’s a tasty tip: butchers, show off those premium cuts with larger images that capture every juicy detail. Fishmongers, keep it clean and fresh – let that catch of the day shine!
Love your existing website’s look? Ecwid’s clever Colour Adaptive Mode matches everything perfectly. Want to mix it up? Just flip the switch in Design → Storefront Navigation & Colours!
Your Homepage – First Impressions Count! 🏪
Think of your homepage as your shop window – it needs to stop customers in their tracks! With Ecwid’s Instant Site, you’re the window dresser of your digital storefront.
Start with a showstopper in your Cover & Headline section. Cheesemongers, why not display that perfectly aged Stilton? Cake decorators, let’s see those celebration showpieces! Just hop into Website → Edit Site and make that cover sing.
Tell your story in the Why Choose Us section – are you a third-generation butcher? A passionate organic greengrocer? Share what makes your shop special!
Want to shuffle things around? Easy as pie! Click that settings icon and move your seasonal specials right to the top where everyone can see them.
Looking Great on Every Screen 📱
These days, your customers shop everywhere – from laptops to phones. Good news! Your Ecwid shop looks perfect on every screen, thanks to responsive design that adapts faster than you can say "fresh bread"!
Want to check how your shop looks on different devices? Just click that mobile preview icon. Make sure those crusty sourdough loaves look just as tempting on a tiny screen!
For your cover photos and special offers, choose whether to go big and bold or neat and tidy on mobile. Perfect for butchers showing off those marbled steaks or fishmongers displaying the catch of the day – every detail stays crystal clear!
Remember, keep those product descriptions short and sweet on mobile – like a perfect tasting note. Those ‘Add to Cart’ buttons? They’re ready for tapping, but give them a quick check in preview just to be sure!
From desktop to mobile, your shop will look as fresh and inviting as your physical store. Now that’s what we call a proper digital market stall! 🏪✨
Serving Up Simple Payments and Perfect Deliveries! 💳
Want to make buying and receiving your delicious offerings as smooth as freshly whipped cream? Let’s cook up the perfect payment and delivery recipe!
Taking Payments Your Way 💰
Say goodbye to payment headaches!
- Pop into Payment in your control panel
- Click "Add Method" to pick your favourites
- Follow the simple setup steps
Whether you’re a fishmonger needing quick Stripe payments for that fresh catch, or a butcher wanting Square for shop-and-online harmony, you’ll find the perfect fit! Plus, don’t forget about good old "Cash on Delivery" – perfect for those careful cheese deliveries that need the personal touch!
Drawing Your Delivery Map 🗺️
Ready to map out where your treats can travel? Here’s how:
- Visit Shipping & Pickup in your dashboard
- Paint your delivery zones on the map
- Set your delivery rates
Love the local touch? Draw delivery zones right on the map – perfect for greengrocers keeping those veggies fresh in nearby neighbourhoods!
Fresh Food, Fresh Thinking 🚚
When it comes to fresh food delivery, timing is everything! Here’s how to set it up:
- Click "+ Add Delivery" under Shipping & Pickup
- Pick your rate style (free, flat, or custom)
- Draw your delivery boundaries
- Set your delivery windows
Click & Collect Made Simple 🏪
Want to offer click and collect? Easy peasy:
- Head to Shipping & Pickup
- Hit "+ Add Pickup"
- Add your collection details
- Let customers pick their perfect pickup time
Brilliant for butchers sharing handling tips at collection, or cheesemongers offering storage advice! Need to cover those extra costs?
Best of all?
Whether it’s same-day delivery or scheduled collection, you’ll keep those products fresh and your customers smiling! 🌟
Spread Your Digital Wings – Website to Social! 🌐
Why keep your delicious offerings in just one place when you can serve them everywhere? Let’s get your shop connected where your hungry customers love to browse!
Adding Your Shop to Your Website 🏪
Got a website already? Popping your Ecwid shop in there is easier than slicing fresh bread! For popular platforms like WordPress, Wix, or Joomla:
- Dash over to Website → Pick Platform
- Choose your website flavour
- Follow the simple serving suggestions
Running a custom-built site? We’ve got the perfect recipe:
- Visit Website → Other platforms and sitebuilders
- Grab the special code
- Sprinkle it where you want your shop to appear
Butchers love this flexibility – showcase those premium cuts on one page and everyday essentials on another. Talk about the perfect presentation!
Your Instant Shop Window 🎯
No website yet? Don’t worry – Ecwid’s professionally designed website option serves up everything you need:
- Pop into Website → Instant Site
- Pick a template that makes your products sing
- Season it with your colours and images
- Serve it up with your free domain (yourstore.company.site)
Perfect for cheesemongers showing off their artisanal treasures or fishmongers highlighting the catch of the day!
Selling on Social – Where Your Customers Are! 📱
Ready to make those Instagram scrollers stop and shop? Here’s how to connect your social shops:
- Head to Sales Channels → Facebook or Instagram
- Link up your accounts
- Watch your products sync like magic
Imagine cake decorators tagging those showstopper celebration cakes, ready to buy with a tap! Or greengrocers showing off today’s fresh-from-the-field produce on Facebook.
Remember though – these social selling goodies need at least the Venture plan to work their magic!
Fresh, local, and now everywhere your customers are – that’s the recipe for digital success! 🌟
Your Recipe for Online Success! 🌟
Want to know the secret ingredient to digital success? It’s choosing the right platform for your food business – and Ecwid serves up everything you need!
Whether you’re a butcher showcasing those premium cuts, a greengrocer bursting with seasonal treasures, or a cheesemonger crafting the perfect cheese board, your online shop should be as unique as your offerings. That’s where Ecwid shines!
Think about it:
- Cheesemongers can slice and dice their portions just right
- Cake decorators schedule those perfect celebration moments
- Fishmongers keep their catch fresh with clever delivery zones
- Butchers showcase every premium cut in its glory
- Greengrocers highlight what’s fresh from the fields
From free starter plans to full-flavoured business options, Ecwid gives you the perfect mix of simple setup and powerful features. Multi-channel selling? Sorted. Stock management? Easy as pie. Delivery scheduling? Fresh and on time!
Support local. Sell better. Love your shop. 🐝💛
Ready to bring your food treasures to the digital world? Your perfect online shop awaits – because great food deserves a great showcase!
FAQs
Q1. How do I organise my products in my Ecwid online shop?
To arrange your products, navigate to the desired category, tap ‘Edit’, then use the drag and drop feature to reorder items. Hold the three lines next to a product and move it to your preferred position within the category. Remember to tap ‘Done’ when finished.
Q2. Is Ecwid suitable for newcomers to e-commerce?
Yes, Ecwid is user-friendly for beginners. Its free plan offers a risk-free opportunity to explore the platform’s features. When you sign up, take a moment to familiarise yourself with the dashboard before creating your store.
Q3. What fees does Ecwid charge on sales?
Ecwid doesn’t impose additional transaction fees on your sales. However, your chosen payment provider (e.g., PayPal, Stripe, Square) will apply their standard transaction fees, typically ranging from 1.9% to 2.9%.
Q4. How does Ecwid compare to other e-commerce platforms like Shopify?
While Ecwid offers more affordable pricing plans, Shopify provides more comprehensive features. Ecwid’s free plan is excellent for businesses with tight budgets, whereas Shopify’s robust sales features are better suited for growing businesses with larger budgets.
Q5. Can I integrate my Ecwid shop with social media platforms?
Yes, Ecwid allows you to connect your online shop to Facebook and Instagram. This feature enables you to sync your products and sell directly through these social media platforms, enhancing your reach and providing customers with more purchasing options.